ITSM and Helpdesk Services Manager (Durban North) at Aspen Pharma Group

JOB PURPOSE:

• Operational role in the Group Digital Technology team. The ITSM & Helpdesk Services Manager is responsible for managing, optimizing, and governing the GDT IT Service Management framework and end-user support operations. This role ensures high-quality, efficient, and compliant IT services through effective process design, continuous improvement, service monitoring, and team leadership. The role will drive service excellence, standardization, and operational resilience across all IT service delivery functions and the Helpdesk to ensure customer satisfaction.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS:

IT Service Management (ITSM) Governance

• Own and maintain ITSM policies, processes, and service catalog across Incident, Request, Problem, Change, CMDB, Knowledge, and Asset Management.
• Ensure ITSM practices align with ITIL standards and business needs.
• Implement service quality KPIs, SLAs, OLAs, and drive accountability across Technology teams.
• Lead continual service improvement (CSI) initiatives using data-driven insights.
• Oversee ITSM tooling (ServiceNow/Jira/Remedy/etc.) configuration, optimization, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure Innovation & AI capabilities are explored, and processes automation is planned and implemented where applicable.

Helpdesk & End-User Support Leadership

• Manage daily operations of the IT Helpdesk/Service Desk, ensuring timely and effective resolution of incidents and requests.
• Monitor team performance, queue health, escalation patterns, and user satisfaction.
• Establish a tiered support model and ensure seamless coordination with L2/L3 teams.
• Implement proactive support strategies, including shift-left, knowledge base expansion, and automation.
• Lead staffing, scheduling, training, and performance evaluations for support personnel (External, Third party & Internal within Aspen).

Major Incident & Problem Management 

• Oversee the Major Incident lifecycle, ensuring rapid response, communication, and resolution.
• Facilitate post-incident reviews and ensure implementation of corrective actions.
• Lead structured Problem Management to reduce recurring issues and optimize system reliability.
• Ensure Root Cause Analysis is provided and documented as per Aspen’s process.

Stakeholder & Vendor Management

• Act as the primary point of contact for business stakeholders on service-desk-related matters.
• Ensure consistent communication, transparency, and alignment on service expectations.
• Manage vendor relationships for support services, tools, and end-user technologies.
• Review vendor performance, contracts, and service delivery alignment for service management services.

Technology Roadmap & Innovation

• Identify opportunities for service automation, AI-powered support, self-service portals, and workflow optimization.
• Benchmark against industry standards and recommend modernization initiatives.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, applications, cybersecurity, and other teams to enable unified service delivery.
• Ensure the help desk stays in validated state and change management is adequately followed
• Drive knowledge-sharing initiatives within the support team and across functional teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology or related field.
• ITIL v4 Foundation (required); ITIL Intermediate/Expert is a strong advantage.
• ServiceNow Administrator (preferred)
• 8-10+ years of experience in IT service management, or operations roles.
• Minimum 3+ years in a leadership/managerial capacity
• Experience managing ITSM tools (ServiceNow, BMC, Jira Service Management, etc.).
• Strong understanding of service delivery, IT operations, and user experience management.
• Expertise in Service Desk operations
• Strong grasp of ITSM tooling and automation
• Experience managing ITSM tools (ServiceNow, BMC, Jira Service Management, etc.)